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April 15, 2008

Money to help female prisoners reenter society

The state’s Department of Corrections is getting help from the federal government to help women who have been incarcerated reenter society.

The money –– more than $134,000 –– will go to the DOC’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative to help women find and keep jobs, and to provide them with other work- and life-coaching services.

“Once inmates serve their sentences and reenter society, it’s important that they be able to contribute to their communities and begin to rebuild their lives positively and productively,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement.

Whitehouse and Sen. Jack Reed worked on the Second Chance Act in March, which the president signed into law earlier this month. The law is aimed at helping corrections departments coordinate reentry services for former inmates.

“Every year, hundreds of women are released from Rhode Island’s prison system,” Reed said in a statement. “Helping these women develop the skills they need to find steady jobs, regain their self-respect and reconnect with their families gives them the opportunity to successfully transition back into society.”

The Second Chance Act gives the federal government authority to award grants worth up to $500,000 for state, local and tribal re-entry courts and to provide former inmates with social service assistance.

“Finding employment is often the most critical factor in the ability to break the cycle and avoid the downward cycle that brought them to prison in the first place,” A. T. Wall, DOT director, said in a statement.

“Coming on the heels of the Second Chance Act, this grant will enable us to augment the important work we have already begun.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 11:00 AM | Permalink

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